Little Falls transcript., 1887-06-10
ABOUT THE WASP.
Some Of His Distinguishing chara i
= terist1cs. t=.s@

AaJoIlty stnI1k unKlnoly OF the
wasp. They cannot forget it's sting.
The prejudice is not an admirable one,
as some prejudices are; race prejudice,
for instance. which. is the making OF
nations. But not this one against
wasps. For it is really only a protest
against vigorous personality, against
the assertion Of individual poxe-. In
the human species there are wasps--
strong-tlighted men, whom most fear,
and many, out of our sheer weakness.
hate. for their robustness of mind and
their intellectual aggressiveness. Such
do not work in wax, nor store honey.
Yet the workmanship of bees. as com.
pared with that of wasps, is the work
manship of blind mutes initiating a
pattern by touch of fingers as COM
pared with that of uncrippled and in
dependent intellect. The life history
of the wasp, too, is far more worthy
of self than the hive folk. Sting?
Of course they do, if necessity arises,
and often, grateful to Providence for
the weapon, they make the necessity
for themselves. Ought they to keep
their talents wrapped in napkins?
No one likes bees better than 1 do ]
have kept hives. But, after all. they
are not the cattle and poultry of the in.
sects? They are the sheep, while the
wasps are the wild deer. The one rep
resents routine, the other one protests
against routine. What poetry is there
in the lives of bees as compared with
that OF wasps?-in the tame citizen
ship of the artificial hive, the machine
made honey comb, as compared with
the romance of tho woodland comb
maker? Both bee and wasp need
honey; but the latter, when he has not
the leisure (or the willy to gather it for
itself, goes after the former. ''What,
ho, there!'' it cries. ''You bumbline
fellow, in your jerkin of woody brown,
stand and deliver? and the bee does.
A pirate of the air? a highwayman
of skyey roads and heaths? No, no:
not at all. This is the way of cour
ageous genius, that knows how to take
the bricks which the dil;gent mechanic
al student has been piling up into reg
ular heaps in his brick-yard, and to
build beautiful houses with them. Left
alone, they would have been piles of
bricks, and nothing more, forever and
a day. But better man comes along
and bravely possesses himself of them.
''You can go and rummage for MORE"
he says to the toiler among the clay;
that is your life-work-to make bricks.
Mine is to build with the bricks which
you make" Of course, the bee buzzes
and says: ''You mustn't; you really
ought not. want the honey myslei
to fill a cell with. The wasp replies:
Deliver, or you are dead bee.' Or
suppose they argue more calmly:
what are you dcing?" demands the
wasp. Going home with my honey.
bag" replies the other. What for?"
TO fill cell with" 'Well, what
then? When the cell is filed what
shall you do?" "Shut it up and begin
another" is the reply. ':And thenP''
Fill that up, too, and begin another -
Imagine the generous fury of the wasp!
''Oh, thou mutton-headed fly! And is
that the end of life-to fill cells with
honey and eat none? To sweat all the
summer through and have no harvest
of your toll? o thou gross one! Thou
honey-grubber! Thou miser of honey
bags! Perpetually filling for others to
Woodland without the wit to see that
thou art the sport of spendthrifts. Out
OF this! Give up your honey or. odd
cooks! this rapier at the end of me
shall rid the world of q numskul]
variet." But, like the sturdy good
citizen that he is, the bee often refuses
to surrender, and then woe to him, the
poor honest fellow in his fustian coat.
For my gentleman whips out his bod.
kin, and there is an end of the bee.
In short, there is great deal to say
about the wasp, and in its favor. Its
soldierlv ways, so "smart'' and alert
the lancer in the field, gladiator at
need. When they 90 abroad it is with
military Notwithstanding, skirmish.
ing, foraging, fighting. And the nest
is a citadel. There is no "bumbling'
variety of the wasp, no ''bumble'' wasp.
They make very little fuss about what
they do. Yet sometimes, when they 20
by, there is slung past your ear sound
like rifle bullet; not like the bees Of
"a full content" but an eager racing
voice that has an objective point before
it. Thus they keep life from getting
stagnant. Many insects would go to
sleep altogether if it Were not for the
wasps, who are forever reconnoitering
other peoples premises. just as nature
keeps hawk hung up in the air to
teach the groundlings that ':life is not
all beer aud skittles,'' so she always
has wasp on hand to repress the idea
of perpetual gayety among insects. It
is the falcon of the dipterous folk. So,
too, when it is not at work, there Is q
delightful idleness about the wasp; a
thorough complete vacancy which is
enough to send a honey-bee mad to see.
But for myself l hold perpetual labor
in abominotion, and believe my hatred
of it just.-St. Ja4,aes's Gazette. ~
A Singular Phenomenon.
There are great many funny occur
rences in this world" observed an Aus
tin attorney. &
.sBeen reading the Con ngressional Rec.